MANSFIELD WOODHOUSE: Force would lose £875,000 from police station sale

The force has argued that it will represent a saving of £50,000 per year in running costs and will put much-needed cash back into the force’s coffers.

The station was built for £1,3m in 2007 by Manchester-based architects Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams and funded from Nottinghamshire Police’s capital budget.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “The proposals to sell the property are part of an overall plan designed to save £2.4m over two years.

“In the challenging financial climate there is a financial imperative to rationalise expenditure wherever possible, taking into account the advances in modern technology which even in the last five years have refined the way in which policing is delivered considerably.

While it is regrettable that we are in a position where we have to consider the closure of an existing police station, everything possible is being done to secure an alternative police base within the town.”

Forest Town Police Station was closed in 2002 and stations in Kirkby, Blidworth, Ravenshead and Selston have also gone, with officers operating out of community venues such as town and village halls.